Background

Since the introduction of combined anti-retroviral therapy (cART), survival of patients
with HIV-associated NHL improved dramatically. We examined survival and HIV-related
prognostic factors of patients with HIV-related NHL in the era of cART within the
framework of a large European multi-cohort collaborative study.

Methods

We analyzed the data of HIV-infected adult patients (age > 16 years) who developed
a NHL after January 1, 1998. We included patients who were cART naïve at inclusion
and started cART after January 1, 1998. Only patients who started cART at some point
during lifetime were included in the present analysis. cART was defined as regimen
with at least three antiretroviral drugs. Patients had to have at least one CD4 cell
count measurement after January 1, 1998, and before or within 7 days of NHL diagnosis.
Survival and prognostic factors were estimated using crude and adjusted Weibull models,
with random-effects accounting for heterogeneity between cohorts.

Results

We observed 67,659 HIV-infected patients. Of 1,176 patients who developed NHL, 847
(72%) NHL patients from 22 collaborating cohorts across Europe were included in the
present analysis. The 329 (28%) NHL patients who did not meet the inclusion criteria
outlined above were excluded. After 1 year, 66 percent (95% CI 63%–70%) of patients
with NHL other than Primary Brain Lymphoma (PBL) and 54 percent (95% CI 43%–65%) of
patients with PBL were alive. Negative predictive factors for survival were diagnosis
of PBL, low CD4 cell count nadir and history of injection drug use.

Conclusion

In the era of cART two-thirds of patients diagnosed with HIV-related NHL other than
PBL survive for longer than 1 year after diagnosis. Survival is poorer in patients
diagnosed with PBL.

More advanced immunodeficiency is the dominant prognostic factor for mortality in
patients with HIV-related NHL.